Online trading grows in Vietnam

Online shopping grew 10 percentage points last year, but most Vietnamese still prefer to pay cash, a new survey has found.

The Vietnam e-Commerce and Information Technology Agency, under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, got 900 responses to an Internet poll, which showed the main purchases were electronic devices, clothes, cosmetics and household items, Dan Tri online newspaper reported.

The survey found that 71 percent of shoppers bought items over the Internet in 2014, up 10 percentage points on the previous year, with the number of people using social websites for trading up from 45 percent to 53 percent.

But while customers were using the Internet to buy items, 64 percent opted to pay cash on delivery, rather than use a debit or credit card.

Concerns among those polled related to quality, payment methods, branding and pricing — 81 percent were worried about being cheated because they could not see and check items before buying.

Many said delivery services were weak and websites were poorly designed. Security was an issue, with potential shoppers worried about personal information being leaked to advertisers.

However, 97 percent said they would or continue to use ọnline shopping, up from 88 percent in 2013.

Vietnam is considered a major potential market for online retail, with a young population having growing access to the Internet, with a penetration rate of just 33 percent.

The survey found that each shopper spent an estimated 145 USD on the Internet, generating revenue of 2.97 billion USD, or 2.12 percent of total retail sales.-VNA